Can the Show Go On?

By+Wang+Hairong

Xu， head of the Great Wall Circus in Suzhou， east Chinas Anhui Province， was beginning to worry. Usually， business would pick up around the Chinese Lunar New Year， or the Spring Festival， but not this year.

“This is the most sluggish Spring Festival season I have ever seen，” he said. So far， he had not managed to land a single booking for the holiday season.

He blamed the recent slowdown in business on the stampede in Shanghai that left 36 dead on the evening of December 31， 2014， and a tiger escaping from an unlocked cage after circus performance， injuring a 12-year-old boy in Putian of Fujian Province on January 20.

In addition to these tragedies， he suggested the stronger policies on animal protection have caused an overall downturn in circus business.

In July 2010， the State Forestry Administration issued a circular， banning close contact between audience members and wild animals during performances， and prohibited abusive programs such as tigers jumping through rings on fire.

In October of the same year， the Ministry of Housing and Urban Construction also released documents concerning zoo management， requesting zoos and parks under its administration to stop all animal performances.

These policies have dealt a heavy blow to the circus business， Xu told Beijing Review. He said the Great Wall Circus used to stage 400-500 performances every year， but now that number has dwindled to merely dozens.

He said that if this situation continues for another two or three years， he will have to worry about the survival of his circus.

Circus hometown hit hard

The Great Wall Circus， established in 1997， is staffed with more than 200 actors and actresses， as well as a number of animal performers.

Its website lists 20 programs starring animals， including bears using skipping ropes， lions and tigers crossing bridges and riding slides， wire walking by goats and monkeys， as well as dogs reading.

Pictures on display show a young black bear pedalling a bicycle， a tiger jumping through a hoop and lions sitting in a row.

The circus location， Yongqiao District of Suzhou， had more than 300 circuses at the industrys peak， which made up 70 percent of the national circus market. The business took in a total revenue of hundreds of millions of yuan a year， and employing more than 20，000 people， reported local newspaper Anhui Daily.

It is not uncommon to find hundreds of lions and tigers and a more sizable number of bears and monkeys living in one village. Li Tonghai， a villager in Gaotan Village of Haogou Township， was reported to feed as many as seven lions and six tigers at a time.

Villagers train animals in the vicinity of their homes. Monkeys donning colorful clothes practice stilt walking on rural roads. Bears swing on bars in open places. Lions and tigers receive their training right in villagers yards.

In 2008， the districts circus art was declared a national intangible cultural heritage， and was put under protection.

Almost one third of local residents make a living through the circus. Most circuses in the district travel around the country to perform outdoors. Yang Hengjun， head of Yongle Circus， said that the districts circuses have first-rate performance skills， but no modern acoustic and lighting control equipment or costumes or props， which hinders the popularization of this traditional art.

In cities， it is not easy for traveling circuses to find an open spot to perform.

City management and public safety departments usually force nomadic circuses to move away because they dont want to “invite trouble，” Xu said.

Animal trainers are required to obtain a wild animal breeding license and a performance license. If they want to travel with animals， trainers are required by Chinas Law on the Protection of Wildlife to bring a wild animal transportation permit with them and an approval from the local forestry administration.

The procedure for obtaining the wild animal transportation permit and approval is cumbersome， Xu said. He said that it usually takes more than one month to get a permit to ship a tiger. As circus members have to travel frequently from city to city， they often cannot afford to wait for such a long time. As a result， some trainers dont bother applying.

Last July， four animal trainers from Xinye County， Nanyang of central Chinas Henan Province， were arrested for trafficking rare wild animals when their six monkeys performed on the street of Mudanjiang in northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province.

Their macaque monkeys are nationally protected animals， but the trainers had not applied for a transportation permit.

Animal trainers should first obtain an invitation from a zoo or in places where they plan to perform， and then apply for the license at the local forestry department where they come from， said Zhang Junran， President of the Monkey Art Association in Xinye County.

On January 20， a court in Heilongjiang ruled the four trainers not guilty after a second trial of the case， since they did not harm any of the monkeys.

Yao Yongan， a lawyer defending the four trainers， said the case sets a legal precedent， and he hopes that monkey trainers will gradually be exempt from a transportation license.

Some trainers， frustrated by the bad experience they had while performing elsewhere， left the business.

“In recent years， the number of monkey trainers has been dropping. In some villages， 85 percent of the residents used to be in the business， while now the percentage dropped below 20 percent，” Zhang told Xinhua News Agency.

Animal rights advocacy

Animal entertainment was put under public scrutiny as animal right activists rise. Mang Ping， a professor with the Central Institute of Socialist Studies in Beijing， has been investigating animal welfare in zoos since 2003.

To animal rights activists， circuses are animal abuse. They argue that animals are tamed with “physical and psychological pain， including isolation， starvation， beating and being chained up in small enclosures.”

Animal rights activists pushed for an animal protection law to tackle problems such as animal abuse and abandonment. In September 2009， a draft prepared by a number of Chinese law experts was released to solicit public opinions.

Feedback on the draft was mixed. Some residents cannot accept the concept of animal welfare， said Chang Jiwen， the lead drafter of the act and a research fellow with the Institute of Law， Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. They thought currently， the top priority is to protect human welfare， he said.

The draft act was shelved at the national legislature， while in 2010， the forestry administration issued a circular banning dangerous wild animal performances and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Construction prohibited animal performances in zoos.

From 2011 to 2012， professor Mang and a group of students investigated more than 40 zoos across the nation， and found that animal performances were still staged in half of public-owned zoos and around 90 percent of aquariums and wild animal zoos， which are usually privately owned.

Mangs group and other charities in this area， such as the Beijing-based Green Beagle Institute， continued to press for a complete ban on animal performances.

Their calls are not supported by everyone. Shu Shengxiang， a resident of Changde in central Chinas Hunan Province， believes that regulating animal training and performances is better than a total ban on animal performances. Such performances give children an opportunity to learn about and love animals， he said.

Under pressure from animal protection activists， the circus industry is reforming programs featuring animals and animal training practices.

For instance， for the tiger jumping through fire hoop program， the Great Wall Circus has replaced fire with flowers around the hoop. Dangerous performances such as wrestling between a person and a tiger have also been dropped from the program.

Now in Suzhous Yongqiao District， villagers usually use food to tempt animals to perform rather than resorting to physical punishment， according to Anhui Daily.

In Gengjia Village in Taogou Township， Yin Along held up pieces of pumpkin to entice a four-month old bear cub to stand up on its back legs. He said that fostering an affinity with animals is more effective than punishing them.